Stan Schmidt
| Stan Schmidt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 6, 1936 South Africa |
| Style | Judo, Shotokan Karate |
| Teacher(s) | Keinosuke Enoeda, Masatoshi Nakayama, Tetsuhiko Asai; Taiji Kase |
| Rank | 8th dan karate (JKA) |
Stan Schmidt is a South African master of Shotokan karate. Along with others, such as Norman Robinson, he was an early practitioner of Shotokan karate in South Africa and his establishment of the South African branch of the Japan Karate Association (JKA) in 1965 after training in Japan, along with his subsequent promotion of the art in South Africa, earned him the appellation of 'The Father of South African Karate'. In 1963, he was one of the first westerners to be invited into the JKA's famous Instructor Class in the Tokyo Honbu dojo and he was later one of four non-Japanese karateka to sit on the JKA's international Shihankai. He was also the first non-Japanese karateka to attain 7th dan from the JKA and also the first to attain 8th dan. Today, he is the highest ranking non-Japanese karate master of that organization. He is also known for his acting roles in several martial arts films of the 1970s and 1980s.
Schmidt was born on 6 October 1936 in Kokstad, Transkei, South Africa. He was educated at King Edward VII High School and then studied at the University of South Africa where he obtained a master's degree in Communications. His route into martial arts was initially through judo in which he competed nationally and later karate.
Stan Schmidt is credited with formally introducing karate to South Africa in the 1950s along with other men such as Len Barnes, Richard Salmon, James Rousseau, Des Botes, and Norman Robinson. Schmidt had been introduced to the concept of karate by his Judo instructor who gave him a karate book authored by Hidetaka Nishiyama entitled ‘Karate - The Art of Empty Hand Fighting’, whilst Schmidt was convalescing from a broken ankle. As with the other pioneers of South African karate, it was from textbooks such as this that Schmidt gained his knowledge of karate. He then began training himself at his judo dojo and there, he encouraged other judoka to join him, including Ken Wittstock, Norman Robinson and Eddie Dorey.
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